


Try, try again, you just resist

by Amber_Flicker



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s02e06 Enter Zoom, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Light Angst, Torture, but really it depends on whether you have your shipping goggles on, it's time for whump my children, possible hartmon pre-slash, the coldflash is hinted at in the background but it's not prominent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 13:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8163586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amber_Flicker/pseuds/Amber_Flicker
Summary: In which: Instead of breaking Barry's back, Zoom goes for a different method...





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from tumblr: angsty prompt time- rather than beating Barry up, Zoom (Early s2) kidnaps and attacks Len and Hartley, causing Barry and Cisco to lose! their! shit! trying to find them.
> 
> Title from Outer Science by Jubyphonic

Hartley wasn't used to the rush of being carried by a speedster. It had happened to him a select few times, and he doubted anyone could truly get used to it, anyway. Non-speedster minds weren't meant to process things at such a high speed, and it felt like the air was physically ripped from your lungs. Its only saving grace was the fact that at these speeds, sounds were basically blocked out. Even with the aids, Hartley's hearing was still hyper-sensitive... Overall, though, it was a very unpleasant experience. Whoever this was, they were even faster than The Flash. So he could hardly be blamed for being so disoriented that he crashed into Leonard Snart.

Said man barely caught him, and that was only because he was slightly more accustomed to travelling this way. A few seconds later and Hartley was back up, staring at this new... someone. And black, really? A little overdramatic, there. (Not that the man next to him was any less so, but the fact remained.) The suit, like the powers, was reminiscent of The Flash suit, but... a lot darker, in more than just colour. That didn't really scare Hartley off, because of the aforementioned trying-too-hard feel of it all. The constant crackling of blue lightening was slightly more disturbing. It was unnerving to be randomly picked up by a meta who not only hadn't been seen before, but wasn't in the S.T.A.R Labs database either. It'd leave anyone wondering _what was going on._

"Who the hell are you?" Hartley glanced over at Len at the words. He knew he had a tendency to end up antagonizing people without even meaning to, so for now he'd stay quiet. Probably best for him to be speaking anyway, he _was_ the leader here... He didn't have his gun. Which would have been helpful, because _speedster_ , but they could make do.

" _Zoom._ " The voice thing, a little unnerving- probably the point of it- but if there was anything Hartley excelled at, it was keeping a completely calm façade. He took a moment to look around the... cell. That's what this must be. He didn't bother trying to get the other Rogue's attention, because Hartley knew he'd already checked their surroundings long before he himself did.

"Yeah, alright. I won't bother with introductions on my end, as I'm sure you're well aware of who you've kidnapped." Cold- definitely in his persona at this point- took a step forward. "Want to tell us what it is you're after?"

" _Nothing you can give me._ " The meta didn't seem to care about the cautious approach, and the man didn't step further. It had only been to gauge his reaction, Hartley knew. Let it not be said that Leonard Snart ever did anything rash without first knowing every detail he could about his enemy. He would never have tried to do a thing as stupid as try to take down the unknown.

"Then why'd you wake us up- which is rude, couldn't you have waited until a reasonable time?- and drag us here? Has to be a reason, you could've picked up anyone you wanted. and you decided to snatch the leader of the Rogues. The way I see it, you have to want something from us. So let's not waste tim-"

Hartley jerked back belatedly. The sudden rush of wind, increase of electricity, and Len was being held by the throat, all faster than he could keep up with. No reasoning with this Zoom, then.

"I want The Flash."

"And- what makes you think- I can give him to you? Red's n-ot my colour, _Zoom._ " Stubborn as fuck. Even being nearly choked he was being sarcastic.

" _He has an unusual amount of sentiment regarding you, and he,_ " He tilted his head towards Hartley, " _-can't seem to decide what side he's on. Even if not for that, The Flash is a_ hero," He said the word as if it were something horrible, bitter and vile- " _he's hardly going to allow me to kill you, even if you are criminals._ "

"Wouldn't count on it." And Hartley took back his earlier words, because that's when Len decided he'd had enough of his airways being cut off and wrenched himself from Zoom's grip. His punch didn't hit it's target. That was, perhaps, not the best course of action.

" _You're going to be a problem._ " It wasn't a question. 

Hartley had never seen someone truly able to beat down cold. Sure, attempts had been made, but they were never successful. He couldn't do anything but stand back and watch as that's exactly what happened. By the time it was done, agonizing moments filled with restrained noises and pounding, a few cracks that resonated in his too-sensitive ears, his confidence in their control of this situation had faded. He knew it didn't show outwardly, he was too good at keeping his emotions concealed, but this speedster had become a lot more of a threat. Hartley was scared.

He didn't move as Zoom glanced over at him, eyes lingering as if assessing how much trouble _he'd_ be, and apparently deciding _not much_ \- A mistake- and left, door sealed shut behind him.

What did he do now?

***

"And you're sur- Okay, okay, I get it! Alright, we'll find them, stop _threatening me,_ Lisa!"

"Lisa _Snart?_ " Cisco jumped at Barry's voice (and damn him for sneaking up. That's not what superpowers are for.) "Is there something I should know?"

"Yeah, but it's not what you're thinking. Apparently her brother and Hartley were taken by some 'black speedster'. I think we know who that is."

Barry frowned contemplatively. "Zoom. But why would he take them, of all people? That doesn't make sense."

"Well... Hartley helps us sometimes, that's probably why he was taken." Cisco said, "But I'm not sure about Cold."

"Is there any way to find them?"

Cisco started to type. "I can try, but there's no way Zoom will make it easy for us." He paused, hesitating. "You should call Cait in, I hate to say it, but they're probably gonna be in a bad state, if-" He paused to correct himself- " _when_ we find them."

A jolt of worry hit Barry, and he felt anxiety growing. This- this might not end well, and he really didn't want to lose anyone else. And he could try to prepare for it, but it wasn't ever something you could be prepared for, whether it was likely to happen or not. He didn't reply as he went to call her.

***

Hartley was examining the door, various ways to open it coming to mind and quickly being dismissed. They didn't have much to work with, and he'd never seen technology like this before. It wasn't going to stop him from trying. He did still have explosives rigged into his hearing aids...

He'd tried to ask Len if he needed help and he'd been snapped at, hence why he was here, ignoring everything on the other side of the room. Honestly, he was just _trying_ to be helpful, and he wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was genuinely worried about the other man.

"Found a way out yet?" Len's voice sounded strained, and Hartley looked over. He was a mess, dark bruising already forming across visible patches of skin, and Hartley knew that was hardly the extent of it. He was quite sure he'd heard ribs fracture- or break, it was hard to tell- but no blood was being coughed up, so obviously his lungs hadn't been punctured. 

"I... I might, I don't know if it will work, though." Probably _not._ And god knows what would happen if they did get out and they were caught again. ( _He doesn't need us alive to lure in the Flash,_ his nerve-ridden mind supplied)

"Do it."

So he did, with barely any hesitation. They needed _out_ , and the risk was deemed worth it. He had everything in place, ready to be set into motion, and that's when it all fell apart. Hartley didn't have time to do more than blink before he was being slammed against the wall, breath knocked out of him, too-sharp sounds ringing in his head because of the lack of one of his hearing aids. Cold looked alarmed. They'd failed.

Well, might as well, right? "To be fair, you never said 'don't try to escape.'" 

" _I thought you were smarter than that._ " 

Lesson of the day: Don't pick fights with speedsters.

He expected, if Zoom didn't decide they were too much trouble and just kill them, that he'd get the same thing Len got earlier. And while that would be awful, it's not like he didn't get into fights rather often. He was used to being punched. So he wasn't prepared for a hand to literally sink into his shoulder. He couldn't think past that point, not through the haze of pain. He dimly recognized the screaming piercing his ears as his own. It _burned_ and _stabbed_ and he could _feel_ nerves and tissue being ripped apart, each separate sensation connecting in exquisite agony, pounding of his heart and every other sound too loud in his ears, everything _too much-_

When it did stop, he didn't even get the time to stop _screaming_ when his right wrist snapped. It was dull in comparison to everything else. He barely noticed. A few punches aimed to disable him followed- and he was pretty sure that succeeded, was that a crack he heard? Hartley fell to the ground, the thump sending a sharp spike of pain through him. He might have screamed again. He wasn't really aware enough to tell. Didn't even notice it was just him and Len now. He hadn't been in this much pain since the night the particle accelerator exploded (and yes, there was that one time with Cisco and the torture device, but that hadn't lasted more than thirty seconds. It hadn't been deliberately to torture him, not like this.)

Hartley flinched in the expectation of further pain when he was touched again. Len made a hushing sound, but didn't speak. He didn't ask stupid questions like 'are you okay', one of the things Hartley liked about the man. He whimpered as his arm was moved to assess damage. "Can you move it?"

He was probably really asking, 'can you still get us out of here?' And- no. _No._ The threat made here was quite clear- don't try again. Hartley didn't get by as long as he had by not knowing when he was overpowered. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to. He was barely coherent right now, would rather curl up and cry from the agony. He would, except that he didn't want to lose his composure any more than he already had. And yes, god, he was being weak, but he didn't think he could go another round of- of that. He'd end up entirely useless, probably damaged permanently.

"No. I-I can't." He reached up with his (relatively) uninjured arm to wipe away the wetness on his face. He finally looked down at the injury, blood seeping through his shirt. He didn't feel like trying to see what it looked like under that, but put his hand over it to try to stop the bleeding, mindful of the broken bones in his wrist. His other hand twitched, nerves wrecked all along his arm. He hoped that was able to heal, because without full use of both hands he was screwed. He'd have to go and retrieve his other hearing aid to stop the sounds from pounding into his head, if the speedster had even left it, but he was too exhausted to get up now. Hartley wouldn't ask Len to do it- besides the fact that it would seem like showing too much weakness, ridiculous as that was in this moment, the other man was just as injured as he, albeit in different ways (and on that note, he really shouldn't be over here worrying over Hartley.) "What do we do now?" He murmured, trying not to make his head hurt any more.

"Not much we can do, besides wait. Eventually either the rest of the Rogues or Flash is going to get us out of here, it's just not going to be pleasant until then." Ha. Understatement of the year.

***

Hartley slipped in and out of consciousness over the next few hours, after he'd managed to half-hazardly put the device back into his ear, pain and exhaustion making his mind hazy. Len didn't allow himself to do so, despite desperately wanting to drift off, not wanting to know what would happen if they were both asleep next time that monster came in. He'd been through worse situations than this, he could deal with it all. Hartley, he wasn't. He was the person who stayed out of the fight, had no criminal past at all up until a year ago. He wasn't prepared to be put through this sort of trauma. Len knew he'd push it all down after this was over, like he had his other issues, the ones he thought none of the Rogues saw. But, well. He didn't have any room to judge, he was certainly no open book either.

His internal clock said it was somewhere around five hours before he showed back up again, Hartley in one of his waking periods, the constant crackle of lightning to only sound for a few moments as he stared at them. Len stared right back, just as intensely. It would take a lot more than what had already transpired to make him give in. If Zoom was irritated by this, it wasn't visible.

"You just going to stand there, or did you want something?"

" _"The Flash hasn't figured out where you are yet._ "

Obviously. He shrugged. "Not my fault."

" _I guess I overestimated him and his team._ " 

That was the only warning they got before both were picked up, carried through in the dizzying blur, and dropped in front of the door to S.T.A.R labs.

 

***

"What do you mean you can't find them?"

"Just that." Cisco feels just as frustrated as Barry. He'd been out looking for leads on where they may have been taken, even going as far as to go speak to the Rogues, and Cisco had been doing what he could from S.T.A.R, but neither had any luck. "It's like they disappeared. I couldn't find anything."

Barry had a bit of a frantic look in his eyes, and Caitlin looked like she wanted to ask him if he's alright, if he needs anything, but she didn't. It would be a futile effort. "I'm... going to go look again, maybe I missed something." Before either can protest, he'd sped off.

"There's nothing else we can do?" Caitlin asked.

"I've tried everything. He's really trying to hide them from us. Unless they escape or he lets them go, I don't think we're going to find them." It feels like giving up as he says it. He decided he'd check security feeds one more time, if only because he'd never forgive himself if he missed something and they turned up dead because he didn't put in enough effort.

It was a few hours later when there was a glitter of motion on one of their security cameras, and their problems resolved themselves.

***

"Oh god." 

Hartley had just managed to stand on his weak legs without any support from Len when everyone came rushing out of the labs. "Yes, Cisco, I think that would be an appropriate thing to say, considering." He didn't know what he looked like, but Len was a mess. Barry looked longingly after the direction Zoom had disappeared in. 

"I should follow hi-"

"Don't bother. You won't catch him." Len said, and god, Hartley hoped the two weren't going to start their _flirting_ now. They could deny it all they wanted, but it fooled no one.

Barry sighed. "You're probably right." Hartley held back his flinch when he used his speed to come and look them over, worry taking over now that he wasn't thinking about chasing the other speedster. Caitlin pushed him out of the way a second later.

"Move, Barry. I'm the doctor here." She turned back to them. "Can you both walk?"

"Think so." Len said, glancing at Hartley. Who _could,_ but there was a limp.

"Right." And so they were both sat down on cots to be examined. 

Caitlin went to Len first, but was stopped. "He's worse off. I can wait."

"Are you sure?"

"It's just some bruising."

Hartley glared at him. "It is _not,_ you idiot-"

"Hartley." The tone in his voice was warning. He sighed, but didn't fight any more. Complied quietly when he was asked to take his shirt off. Everyone gasped. Hartley himself hadn't seen the wound, only knew it was _bad_. 

"What did he do to you?"

"He phased his hand into me." He noted the sudden movement of Cisco's hand reaching towards his chest, but didn't say anything. Caitlin merely nodded.

"Alright, can you move it at all? What about your hand? Pain level from 1-10?"

"I can, not much. My hand... not really, especially with the broken wrist. Seven." He couldn't feel it as much as he would any other time, the pain in his shoulder dulled everything else.

"Alright. We'll have to do some tests to figure out what the extent of the nerve damage is. That will have to wait a bit, but we can cast your wrist now. Anything else I should know?"

"I think some sort of fracture in my knee. Other than that just some bruising."

Caitlin nodded, and set about examining said fracture before beginning the unpleasant process of casting his wrist. The movement of his arm hurt terribly, but he managed to choke back any pained sounds.

"Any idea how long it'll take to heal?" Len asked from somewhere behind them.

She didn't look away from what she was doing as she answered. "...It could be up to six months, but probably closer to four. The physical injuries, at least. As for mental..." She trailed off.

"I'm fine." He didn't want to get into a conversation about his feelings. Besides the fact that he didn't have personal conversations with other people, it was too likely it would end up going into past issues as well. And really, it was nothing he couldn't deal with alone. It was... well, he couldn't say it hadn't affected him, but he could get it under control so it wouldn't interfere with his work. He didn't need _help._

No one else seemed to agree with this assessment. Caitlin was giving him _that_ look, and he suspected Len was rolling his eyes behind him. Barry had also gone out of his line of sight, suspiciously jittery and worried over Len's state (they all joked about how the two were probably fucking in secret, but he'd never been sure if there was any truth to it). Cisco- he didn't know where he went. 

"Hartley Rathaway. You are _not_ okay. You just went through a traumatizing experience and you are not going to be your stubborn, emotionally constipated self. You _will_ talk to someone about this."

He almost argued. But when Caitlin got this determined there was no reasoning with her. You just listened. And more often than not, he had to admit, she was right. Still, despite his improved relationship with team Flash and the fact that the Rogues were basically his family now, he wasn't sure there was anyone he trusted enough to discuss the incident with- much less an actual therapist. There wasn't really a way to talk to one of those, anyway, not with the arrest warrants and the unexplainable nature of the situation.

***

It was silent for a while, until Caitlin moved on to Len's injuries. "Three broken and one fractured rib, extensive bruising, some cuts- are these scratches?- no internal bleeding as far as I can tell."

"Had a dislocated shoulder too, but I popped it back into place. I suppose you're going to tell me I have to rest up for the next couple weeks." He'd had broken ribs before. Probably his least favourite type of injury- with something like a broken arm, you could still get up and do things. With this, he had to be stuck in one place most of the day.

"You know exactly what I'm going to tell you, so I won't bother going through it." She said, then directed her attention to the others. "I'm going to be while here and I don't think Snart wants company while I bandage his ribs, so why don't you take Hartley to another room and I'll be there in a bit to test nerve damage?"

Caitlin Snow was a lot more perceptive than people realized. She could tell when someone was uncomfortable, when they were putting on an act, could sympathize or go cold like flipping a switch, depending on the situation. Most wouldn't have thought of the idea of him not wanting his scars on view, likely wouldn't have even remembered they existed. Wouldn't have cared even if they did, because he was just another patient and not one they particularly cared for. She wasn't that sort of person.

When they were alone she began to work quickly and efficiently, stitching and bandaging. She was halfway through tightly wrapping up his ribs- she'd made him take painkillers, despite his protest that they made his mind less clear, so it didn't really hurt- when she spoke. "It would help if I had a better idea of what happened. I can't properly assess injuries and mental trauma otherwise." Caitlin gave him a knowing look. "And we both know Hartley won't be saying anything."

"Not much to tell. He snatched us up in the middle of the night, beat me up before I could make any escape attempts, and did the same to Hartley when he tried. Decided you all weren't moving fast enough and dropped us here."

"And that's all."

"What are you trying to imply here?"

"I'm implying that you probably haven't been beaten that badly since you were a child, Leonard." Oh, and now she was going into first name territory. Len was just as stubborn as she was, though. 

"And you'd be right." It's not that he didn't get into fights, because he definitely did. It was just easy for him to get the upper hand, whether because he was stronger than whatever idiot was trying to fight him, or because of strategic hits. And since getting the cold gun, well, no one even dared (okay, perhaps Mardon had tried a few times...) "What do you want me to say?"

"I would like you to quit with the defenses so I can help you." 

"You sound like Barry."

_"Leonard Snart._

He sighed, hating the idea of saying anything about what happened but knowing she wouldn't let up until he did. _"Yes,_ Snow, it was a shitty situation. Yes, I damn near went into a panic attack. But I'm _fine._ Stop worrying over something that's already done, and hurry this up."

 

She looked at him, an assessing gleam in her eye. Probably figuring out if she should push more, or let it go. She finally spoke, "You're all done. The others probably went to the cortex, I've got to go get some equipment. Don't steal anything!" She said, a genuine warning beneath the joke.

"Of course not."

He waited until she left the room before wandering off to find Barry- who he knew wouldn't be with the other two. Len really needed to teach him about being subtle... The anxious pacing around him certainly did nothing to hide anything.

***

Caitlin made them stay overnight, with a promise to let them leave the next day as long as they came back every few days for check-ups. Len tried to argue that Shawna could take it just fine from there, but in the end they both had to settle.

Hartley took the time to look at his injuries in the mirror. It was- not good. He understood now why there had been so much shock. He doubted the scar that would end up on his shoulder would ever fully heal, but it was better than losing use of his arm ( _"If you weren't more durable than the average person due to being a meta, you wouldn't ever use this hand properly again",_ Caitlin had told him) He supposed he couldn't complain, the majority of the Rogues already had at least on scar somewhere, and Len was going to have a black eye for a while, a lot more visible injuries than Hartley. He couldn't really complain, things could have gone a lot worse than they had.

Still, even thinking about the incident- god, they hadn't even been gone 24 hours- made him shudder. 

Waiting for Caitlin to bandage up the other Rogue's wounds, and Barry running off to wherever- he had his suspicions- he'd been left alone with Cisco. It had been uncomfortable, awkward silence. What were you meant to say in this sort of situation? Hartley was content to sit quietly and wait, but he didn't get that wish.

"Y'know, if you need to... talk about it, the whole not-so-good aspect of speedster abilities..."

Hartley raised an eyebrow. "You've had a hand shoved into you too, then?" He played it off with a hint of sarcasm, not allowing his real feelings on the matter to show through. The sharp ache in his shoulder didn't let him completely stop thinking about it, the memory of that creative torture, the blood and the _pain_ and the- and Cisco was talking again.

"Well, other-timeline me, and I remember what it was like even if technically it didn't happen to me in this one." Cisco looked away. "And I know we don't really like each other, but no one deserves _that._ "

He hesitated. "...Thanks."

Hartley shook his head, snapped out of the memory. Best to go back out, he'd been here long enough and Caitlin was probably fussing over whether his injuries had caused him problems or something. He wandered back out to where the cots for sleeping were set up (a relatively slow process, considering his leg), catching on to the tail end of a conversation.

"-not your fault, you're going to kill yourself taking blame for everything that happens."

"But-"

"No. No excuses. Now go home and get some sleep, you can't take out evil speedsters from other earths on no energy." Hartley almost felt as if he was intruding on a moment too personal, but the conversation shifted. Hartley stepped into the room, the other seemingly taking little-to-no notice of his presence, though he _knew_ Len knew he was there.

"I can't leave you here alone." Barry said in a disapproving tone.

"I'm hardly going to steal anything in this state, Scarlet."

"I wouldn't put it past you-"

"Lenny!"

And here were the others. He wondered when they'd come by. Lisa went straight for her brother, followed by Mick. Hartley nearly shrieked when Shawna popped up in front of him suddenly. He really wished she wouldn't do that, and had told her so before, more than once. Not that she listened, clearly. Barry stood to the side, eyeing the newcomers distrustfully but staying back.

"Hartley, we were so _worried._ Are you okay? Is Len okay? What did he do to you?" Hartley didn't get the chance to answer any of her questions as she asked them.

"We're... fine."

Len looked at her, the two other Rogues obviously hitting him with the same questions. "Got thrown around a bit, some broken bones, but nothing permanent." He was then pulled back into a quiet conversation with Lisa. 

"Is it alright if I hug you, Hart?" Shawna asked unsurely.

"...Be careful." He said, after a moment of deliberation. He wasn't really in the mood for physical contact, but it was his friend.

She avoided his injuries, careful. He tensed up anyway, but it wasn't caused by her. She didn't question it, and Hartley knew she'd probably learned about PTSD during the medical training she did manage to get. He was thankful for that, because he didn't feel like explaining himself, not now.

They talked for a few minutes more before she went over to see Len, and Lisa wandered over to Hartley to say she was glad he was alright before she drifted out (not before telling her brother to _listen to his doctor, don't you dare injure yourself more with your stubbornness_ and _don't you think I'm leaving you here alone tonight, I'll be back_ ). Mick, never one to say much, just gave him a nod. Mark was absent, and Hartley suspected it was for the fear he'd end up running into a certain detective and get volatile. He couldn't imagine what they'd done to convince him to stay put. The Flash eventually left too, presumably satisfied that no one meant to cause trouble. Hartley was sure someone was still watching the room via camera feed, though. No way they'd be left unattended.

 

There were no other surprises after that, and before he knew it, despite his discomfort at being _here_ and his racing thoughts, Hartley had fallen asleep.

Come morning, there'd be things to deal with, but for now, they were safe.

**Author's Note:**

> I am not satisfied with the ending, but I've been working on this for so long and I don't think it's getting any better (plus I'd like to get it up before I move, otherwise it'll be days until I get the chance again). I may do some minor editing eventually, for now it's decent enough to post.
> 
> I think this is my second longest oneshot? It's not that long compared to other fics, but considering my forte is short, sharp angst... I did not mean for it to get this out of hand, and it ended up taking weeks more to finish than planned. I am relieved I can finally work on something else.
> 
> Medical stuff mostly taken from research (I've been to the hospital multiple times, but not for anything of this sort) so stuff may be off.
> 
> Come scream about whump with me at http://cliches-and-coffee.tumblr.com/


End file.
